Importance

Overview

Unpacking

How does a leadership team perform the vital role of “monitoring and evaluating” the practices within a school?

As a result of a review of almost 8,000 studies, John Hattie (Measuring the Effects of Schooling, Australian Journal of Education, 1992) concluded that “the most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback.” However, feedback does not occur automatically. It is a function of design. Creating a system that provides feedback is at the core of the responsibility of Monitoring/Evaluating. More specifically, this responsibility refers to the extent to which leaders monitor the effectiveness of school practices in terms of their impact on student achievement. (excerpt taken from School Leadership that Works, pg 55)

The old adage “what gets monitored gets done” is particularly appropriate with this responsibility. Effective leadership teams are very intentional about specifically defining the goals and action steps of a particular initiative or innovation, and regularly monitoring the antecedents, or adult behaviors necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. Effective leadership teams use tools and processes to gather and analyze evidence of the work of collaborative teams. This evidence informs the leadership team as to the progress toward implementation of an initiative, provides a system of accountability for those implementing the initiative, and provides the leadership team with data/information for next steps. But more importantly, it provides for a feedback loop for collaborative teams of teachers. Periodically, those involved in the implementation of an initiative need specific and descriptive feedback on how they are doing and what they may do to get better.

One such exemplary example of this occurs at Columbia Hickman High School where, two times a year, members of the leadership team meet with all collaborative teams in the building and use a common “consultation form” to facilitate a conversation about each team’s progress. The information gathered from these conversations is brought back to the leadership team for analysis and discussion. From these discussions, specific plans are formulated as to “next steps” and where they should focus their support.

In Action

Activity: Watch Eric Johnson, principal of Columbia Hickman High School, describe how his building leadership team monitors the practices of their collaborative teams through a “consultation” process. Reflect, either individually or with your team, how a similar practice might impact the work of your own building teams. Using the 2nd Order Responsibility template, put this responsibility into your own language and specific identify at least one practice you might incorporate to support this responsibility.

In Practice

For more information about Hickman’s consultation process, including the forms they have created, go here: http://www.moplc.org/2-effective-leadership-teams.html